Caithness Horizons

Pictish Stones on
Display

Caithness Horizons is a superb modern museum occupying what were
previously Thurso Town Hall and the Carnegie Library. It draws together
collections previously in the care of Highland Council, Thurso Heritage Society
and the Dounreay Visitor Centre to present a comprehensive and highly
impressive picture of mankind's past and present interactions with
Caithness.

The museum stands in the heart of Thurso, on the High Street at the north east
end of the pedestrianised area. Parking is available immediately opposite, and
there is more within an easy walk. The exterior of the old own hall is
Victorian Gothic in dark stone with lots of pinnacles while the neighbouring
Carnegie Library uses a pinker stone. The contrast between the exterior and the
interior you find as you walk through the door could not be more striking.

Throughout much of Caithness Horizons you get the impression that
the previous interior was simply removed to allow its designers a free hand in
making the most of the available space: though in places attractive original
features were retained, ensuring that there are links to the origins of the
building itself.

The tone is set by the large and welcoming reception area, with lots
of light wood panelling and a well stocked gift shop. The museum's ground floor
is also home an excellent cafe, at the rear of the building, and to some very
contrasting displays.

Off to the right of the reception is the Dounreay Room. This charts
the story of Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment, which is
currently in the process of decommissioning its site eight miles west of the
town. At one time Dounreay was home to five nuclear reactors, three owned and
operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and two by the Ministry
of Defence. The story of the development of the site is told through a series
of displays, with a sense of the scale and technical complexity conveyed
through cut-away models of reactors and a display of remote handling
equipment.

The exhibits in the Dounreay Room give a fascinating insight into a
world which is little understood by many of us. Whatever your views about
nuclear power, there is no doubting the importance of Dounreay to the
Caithness economy over the
past half century: nor its continuing importance for decades to come as
decommissioning of the site takes place. Beyond the Dounreay Room, and very
easy to overlook, is an exhibition area about fuel and energy, covering
everything from oil and peat to renewables. To the rear of this end of the
museum is a large education room.

Back in the reception area look out for Ye Auld
Fish Stane. This stood in Thurso
market place from the 1850s to the 1970s and marks the spot where fishwives
traditionally gathered to sell their fish. It is the beginning of a journey
back in time which continues in the other main exhibition area on the ground
floor, off to the left of the reception area. Here you can find tourist
information, an open learning centre, and the resources of the Caithness Family
History Society. But mostly this area is home to two hugely impressive and
beautifully displayed Pictish standing stones.

The taller of the two is known as the Skinnet Stone. It was found
forming part of the interior west wall of Skinnet Chapel near Halkirk in 1861.
It was moved to Thurso Museum in 1890, but in the process was broken into six
pieces. For much of the intervening period the pieces have been displayed
wrongly assembled, but this has since been corrected and the stone as you see
it today is as near to the original as it is possible to get. The Skinnet Stone
is 2.1m high by 0.6m wide and is unusual in having crosses carved on both sides
along with other symbols. There is also carving on one of the edges of the
stone.

The stockier of the two stones is known as the Ulbster Stone and was
unearthed in the burial ground of St Martin's Chapel in Ulbster in 1770. This
is 1.6m high by 0.9m wide and also has crosses carved on both its front and
rear faces. It is also said to carry a larger array of different Pictish
symbols than any other single stone found to date. At some point after it was
found someone saw fit to deeply engrave "The Ulbster Stone" in highly ornate
script on one side of it.

The first floor of Caithness Horizons is home to its main
collections, as well as to the gallery, home to changing exhibitions of
artwork. The main first floor room is a hugely impressive space, reaching up to
the upper level of the old town hall and allowing a fine stained glass window
to be viewed for the first time in a very long time.

The main room carries a series of exhibitions about the history,
archaeology and landscape of Caithness, as well as topics
such as sustainability and transport. One object on display stands out. It is a
roughly carved stone cross carrying a Runic inscription by someone
commemorating their father, Ingulf. It seems to date back a thousand years and
was found in a grave at Old St Peter's Church in Thurso.

This room is dominated by a huge map of
Caithness on one wall, and
from a raised platform on the other side it is possible to project lights onto
the map showing the location of, for example, all of the castles, or brochs, or
visitor attractions in Caithness. It's a little like
something out of the set of an early James Bond movie, but very striking and
great fun. A mezzanine floor up in the eaves of the building is home to a
comfortable audio visual theatre showing material about the history of
Caithness.

Another room on the first floor in the aptly-named Thurso Room
contains a fascinating exhibition about Thurso itself. Elsewhere the focus is on
natural history and, in particular, the collection of
Robert Dick. He established a
bakery in Thurso in 1830 and began studying
and collecting the plants and insects of
Caithness. His interests
later expanded to include rocks and fossils, but it is for his herbarium, which
included an amazingly complete collection of mosses, ferns and flowering
plants, for which he is principally remembered.